Heart of Courage
by DELTA HUNTER
Summary: David North, formerly known as David Levi Carter. After leaving the US Army under Colonel Stryker, David joins up with SHIELD. MCU-Compliant. Rating may change. Will contain multiple OCs. Please read and review. No flames, please.
1. Chapter 1- Recruitment

David North, formerly known as David Levi Carter, a former member of the US Special Forces X-Team under Colonel William Stryker.

He shook his head slightly and smiled to himself. A year ago, Stryker had been disavowed by the US Military, the X-Team shut down. But there was something that had been missing ever since the X-Team was disbanded. He followed Wade and went into the private sector, but it still didn't feel right. He wasn't being given orders. He was starting to develop what Logan called a conscience. Which was disturbing.

Because previously all he had been trained to do was to follow orders. That helped with the killing, all the bloodshed. True, he still saw the ones that he had killed but it didn't really bother him.

He slid the disk drive across the table to the Czech, "Where's the payment?"

The Czech took the drive and plugged it into his laptop computer. Grunting his satisfaction, the Czech slid across a thick envelope. David removed it, thumbed through the notes, and was slipping it into his inner pocket when the Czech slumped over, an arrow in his back. At the same moment, David caught a blur of movement from his right.

His right hand curled itself around his Stechkin and as he drew, he was already turning his body to meet the assailant full on. Mistake. All he caught sight of was a blur of red hair, and before he knew what was going on, he was flat on the ground. The last thing he saw was a man with what seemed like a bow entering the room before everything went dark.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

He woke up with what seemed like a splitting headache. Briefly he wondered if that's what it felt like to have your skull split by a battle-axe before stopping that train of thought. It hurt way too much to even think. All he could concentrate on was the pain.

When the pain subsided a bit, he managed to look around. He knew he was chained to the desk—he could feel the cold metallic chains on his wrists even though it hurt to open his eyes too much—and he saw that he was in a room with a blacked out window directly in front of him. It was an interrogation room, then. Right now, there could be someone watching him, or there could be nobody. He knew that the first trick in interrogation was to add uncertainty—to throw the subject off. Either there was someone or there wasn't. 50-50. A coin-toss.

The door opened and a shorter white male entered with an armful of manila binders. Pulling up a chair, he sat down and glanced through the top file before closing it and placing it back on the pile.

"David North? Formerly of the United States Special Forces under Colonel William Stryker?" He asked, studying David's face closely.

"If you're going to ask how a member of one of the most elite strike forces of the United States Special Forces ended up working as a mercenary, I think most of us ended up working in the private sector."

An amused expression crossed the man's face before subsiding, "No, actually, I was going to ask how the nephew of the great Peggy Carter turned out to be an enhanced person and managed to hide it for so long."

David flinched and hesitated slightly, "Who's Peggy Carter?"

"David Levi Carter? That's you, right?" The man asked as he held up a photo, "Because this would be incredibly awkward if it wasn't."

The photo was his high school graduation photo. Manhattan High. That had been 6 years ago. He had changed his name when he joined the military. David inclined his head slightly, "What do you want?"

"I can help you, Mr. Carter. We can actually help other human beings, help save lives, make the world a better place, and all that great stuff. But I need you to be honest with me and to trust me."

"Whom do you work for?"

"Who do you think?"

"Your accent is American, which means you can't be MI-6 or MI-5. You won't be the CIA because last time I checked, the CIA had a shoot-on-sight policy for any mutants, as does the FBI. You aren't Interpol either, because you haven't flashed your ID. Which means that there really is only one possibility—you work for SHIELD."

The man across the table smiled slightly, "You're about as good as they say you are. So, are you in?"

Either he was or he wasn't. 50-50. A coin-toss.

"Sure." David shrugged.

The man smiled, and unlocked the cuffs; "We'll be putting you out on probation, just until the people I work for know that you can be trusted. Any questions?"

"Uh… two, actually. Who are you, and who brought me in?"

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson. The team that brought you in is STRIKE Team DELTA. You'll meet them soon enough."


	2. Chapter 2- APOLLO

"Director Fury?" Agent Coulson paused at the doorway to Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD's office.

"Yes, Agent Coulson?" Fury replied, glancing up from the files on his desk.

"Project APOLLO has had its first graduate as of an hour ago." Coulson said, handing Fury the file.

"Project APOLLO was supposed to last 3 years, Coulson." Fury remarked as he began reading the latest test results. The new recruit, David North, had certainly passed all the tests that SHIELD could throw at him with flying colors. His enhanced marksmanship certainly helped.

"Indeed, sir." Coulson replied, struggling and failing to keep a smile off of his face, "Agent North has beaten even the most optimistic of our projections."

"And the serum?"

"It was administered last week. There was a… minor side-effect that we had not anticipated, sir. After we were sure that it wouldn't harm his ability to perform in the field, I took the liberty of making him an agent of SHIELD."

"Minor side-effect?" Fury asked, looking up from the file, his face characteristically emotionless.

"It appears that the serum, in the process of changing his DNA, mutated him even further. He can regeneratively heal."

"That could make him more dangerous." Fury mused.

"To others and to himself." Coulson finished, "Agent North has already demonstrated a level of recklessness and impulsiveness. With these powers…"

Fury nodded as Coulson's voice trailed off, "I want you to assign him Agents Barton and Romanoff as his SOs. North might be good but as far the Council is concerned, he's only 23. They need proof of his loyalty to us."

Coulson nodded. Clint and Natasha had been bugging Coulson about getting to supervise the new recruit; Clint after North had equaled his score at the range and Natasha after she watched him hold his own against a much older and experienced Grant Ward.

"Now another thing, Coulson. There's a new project, TAHITI, that I want you to look over…"


	3. Chapter 3- Hangman

"… And then Lange made a runner so we split up." Clint Barton said. The three of them had just gotten back from a mission in Hamburg where they had been chasing the legendary Swiss assassin and terrorist Erich Lange.

The three of them had been working on nearly 20 missions together and there was a level of comfortable ease that existed in between the three of them. As much as David believed that he worked better as an individual operative, he had learnt to work well with the other two.

"Clint went to get people out of the building while I worked on defusing the bomb." David continued, "Natasha went after Lange and managed to subdue him. I defused the bomb and everything was wrapped up before midnight. We could have been home in the hour if somebody didn't want to stop for takeout."

David threw a glare across the room, where Clint responded by sticking out his tongue childishly.

Coulson sighed as he turned off the voice recorder. He had learnt from a long time ago that it was easier to simply do the paperwork for the three of them than to expect them to do it themselves and turn it in on time. By and large, Natasha Romanoff was the best one of the three when it came to turning in paperwork on time. David worked well and could turn it in most of the time, but he could also be like Clint and never turn it in on time.

"Anyways, here are your new assignments." Coulson said as he handed the three of them new files.

Natasha opened hers and groaned. She hated Tony Stark and she had to go undercover as an assistant? Purpose to seduce him and to get as close as she could so that she could monitor his condition? Goddam it. Coulson owed her, big time.

Clint opened his and shrugged. He was being sent to a security detail in New Mexico. Didn't sound too bad. He might even get time to call Laura and the kids every night if things went well.

David opened his and he arched an eyebrow. Reassigned to an elite strike force under Agent Daniel Lynch. It couldn't be that bad right?

Clint glanced over at David's folder and then patted Natasha consolingly, "You know, Tasha, it could be worse. David has to deal with the Hangman."

Natasha looked over also and she grinned, "Yeah, I'll take Stark over Lynch any day."

"It can't be that bad right?" David asked.

"Oh, you just wait, David."


	4. Chapter 4- Tell Everybody I'm On My Way

Jocelyn de Rosas had been at the SHIELD academy in California when she got her new orders to report to the Hub. She was being reassigned as a pilot to an elite strike force. Granted, she was the second best pilot after the Cavalry, but this was something unexpected.

"The Iron Rose" It was because of Afghanistan that she gained that name, and by God she hated it. Nobody called that to her face, but she knew that that was how others saw her. Afghanistan had changed everything. After Afghanistan, she hadn't expected that she would be given any new combat roles. That seemed like it was changing.

The good thing was that she had worked with Daniel Lynch before as partners. That was before Afghanistan, and they had gotten along decently well. She had liked him enough as a person, even though he was a stickler for protocol and only demanded the best. Then again, he had always demanded the best from himself too, so that made things fair to a certain extent.

She was walking up the ramp to the mobile command center (code-named "Bus") that the team would be using when she heard the roar of a motorcycle engine behind that died. Turning, she saw a man cruise his black Ducati to a vacant slot, park it, and then remove his helmet. After locking his bike, he grabbed a backpack and a duffle bag and headed up the ramp.

"Agent David North." He said, extending out his hand, "I was ordered to report here for new orders under Agent Lynch."

"Agent Jocelyn de Rosas." Jocelyn replied, shaking his hand, "I've heard a lot of good things about you, Agent North."

David looked slightly embarrassed, "I'm not as good as they say I am. Do you know where I can find Agent Lynch?"

"He should be in his office. Just go up the stairs and all the way through. His office is at the end."

"Thank you, Agent de Rosas."

"Its just Jocelyn."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Agent Lynch?" David asked as he knocked on the doorframe at the office, "Agent David North reporting for duty, sir."

"Ah, Agent North." Lynch replied, getting up from behind the desk, "It is a pleasure to have you on the team."

"The pleasure is mine, sir."

"Good. Have you met Seymour and Cohen yet?"

"No sir." David knew that Lynch was referring to Harry Seymour and Helen Cohen, the two science nerds that were going to offer technical assistance to the squad.

"This is for your bunk and your locker." Lynch said as he handed David a set of keys, "Make sure that you read the protocol notices on how we'll operate as a team. I'll go over them later at 1800 over dinner. After you've settled in, I want you to report to Seymour and Cohen—they'll want you for some upgrades. Any questions?"

"No sir."

"Dismissed."

David nodded, turned on his heels and strode from the room. He had a multitude of questions but he figured that those could probably wait. What you don't have you don't need it now, and what you don't know you could just figure out somehow, right?

Descending down the stairs, he noticed where there were two people in a lab. Must be the science duo. He entered the room, "Agents Seymour and Cohen?"

"Seymour. Harry Seymour." The male said, getting off of his lab stool, "She's Helen Cohen."

"Pleasure to meet you both." David replied, his British accent slipping in over his American one.

"So good to see another fellow Brit. Whereabouts you from?"

David replied, grinning, "Manchester."

"Citizen or Devil?"

"Red Devil through and through." David replied, smirking slightly. Harry sighed. Ah well, at least there would finally be someone else who understood and appreciated the Barclay's Premier League.

"Derby's in two weeks." Harry commented.

"50 bucks says the Devils win." David replied, grinning before growing serious again, "Okay, what'd you guys need to upgrade?"

"I need your phone." Harry said as he held out his hand. David removed it from his pocket and handed it over. As Harry plugged it in, Helen motioned for him to open his mouth. Using a cotton swab, she wiped away some of his saliva and then proceeded to place the swab into a machine. A moment later, a green light flashed and she removed a tiny ear bud. She gestured for him to shift his head to one side, which she did.

"I'm guessing that that's a new earpiece?" David asked as she delicately placed it deep within his ear canal.

"Correct." Helen said, her voice soft with a Southern accent, "This one, however, has your DNA implanted into it. If anybody else tries to use it, it will automatically explode."

"The older models could do the same." David pointed out.

"True." Harry said, as he unplugged David's phone and handed it back to him, "But the older ones would go down in the event of an EMP. These little buggers I designed and built myself. They are resistant to any EMP charge. I also just linked your phone to the ear piece so you should be able to answer your phone and listen to music using them."

"Sweet." David said as he pocketed his phone, "Any idea where the others are?"

"Pershing and Sutherin haven't arrived yet." Harry replied, "But they should be here soon. Have you gotten to your room yet?"

"I just dropped my bags off and I came here."

"Why don't you go and get settled in?" Helen suggested, "We can talk at dinner at 6."

"Sounds good." David replied, nodding to the two of them, turning, and leaving the lab.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Before we begin, I would like for us to introduce each other." Lynch said at the head of the dinner table. The team had assembled gradually throughout the afternoon from their various assignments and, for David at least, he was seeing them for the first time.

Then again, he had known Agent de Rosas by reputation. Second best pilot after the Cavalry herself, and nicknamed the Iron Rose for a reason. Lynch had developed a reputation as one of the best mole catchers in SHIELD's history—there was a reason he was nicknamed the "Hangman". Question was, why was he being given command of what David had assumed was going to be an elite response team?

"Daniel Lynch. Team Commander."

"Jocelyn de Rosas. Team Pilot."

"Harry Seymour. Physics."

"Helen Cohen. Biochemistry."

"Riley Sutherin. Specialist."

"Jack Pershing. Specialist."

"David North. Specialist."

"Robin Wood. Hacker and trainee." So she wasn't an agent yet, David realized. That explained that all her SHIELD file was her ability to hack very well and nothing on any previous missions for SHIELD or otherwise.

"Agent North, Robin will be placed under your supervision." Lynch said. David nodded his acknowledgement of the orders silently, flashing a quick smile across the table. Inwardly, he winced. This definitely wasn't something that he was used to. True, he had worked well with Clint and Natasha. But this, now he had to supervise and train another person? He wasn't great with human relationships, and there were things that he had done that nobody could ever know.

Robin looked up and nodded in acknowledgment but said nothing. There was something about this Agent North that she couldn't quite place—something just didn't quite feel right about him. Quickly, she suppressed the thought. At the head of the table, Lynch was talking about some of the rules.

"I know that Fury gave me some of the best when it comes to your individual talents and I know that you guys have all done some very good things before. But more importantly, now, we're a team. Which means that you are all part of something beyond yourselves. You are responsible not only to me, as Commander, but to the rest of your teammates. When you slack off, when you take a shortcut, even when you make a mistake—you are endangering not just yourself but the rest of the team. You are putting the entire team at risk. So I need you guys to keep up the same amount of intensity as before. There is a level of trust and expectation that everybody will be putting in the same amount of effort as before. I need your A-games, but I trust you guys enough to know that you will deliver. Any questions?"

There was silence. Nobody had any. Not a bad opening speech for a Commander of a brand new team, David decided.

"Let's eat."


	5. Chapter 5- Fresh Fire

"You need to keep your shoulders relaxed. Your entire body is tense, Robin." David said as he patted her shoulders, which relaxed, "When you shoot, your entire upper body is relaxed. All you're doing is raising an arm. Think of the barrel as an extension of your arm."

Robin squinted and she pulled the trigger. A report rang out. As the smoke cleared, she noticed a grin on David's face, "Not bad. A bit to the right but not bad at all."

They had been in the firing range for the last hour, and Robin was learning very quickly. David was impressed. For someone who had never picked up a gun before, she was a fast learner. That and David suspected that she had a natural talent with guns.

"Attention, all agents. We have a new mission. Report to my office in five minutes" Lynch's voice came through the PA system aboard the plane. David took the pistol from her, ejected the magazine, cleared the chamber and then slid the empty magazine back into the pistol before handing it back to her, "Come on we have a meeting to go to."

Robin nodded. She liked being around her SO—he was patient—but there was something else about him that threw her off. He had this grin that seemed to be on his face every time she managed to do something like a maneuver or shoot accurately or something like that. There was so much pride. It felt good. It was something that she wasn't used to getting.

As they left the shooting range, Robin turned to David, "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Shoot." David said, ascending the flight of stairs effortlessly. He had a smooth gait that made it seem like he glided across the floor. David liked Robin as a person—on top of being a fast learner, it seemed like she was actually trying to do some good in the world. David had never really known that feeling—all that he lived for was following orders, but with her it was different. He felt that he could trust her, something, which didn't happen often. Even in his old team, the only real person that he trusted was Logan, and as much as both of them seemed to hate each other, Logan was the only one who only killed when threatened.

"Why did you join SHIELD?"

David hesitated for a split second before answering truthfully "I was in some really big trouble when SHIELD found me. They gave me a second chance I've never turned back."

"What sort of big trouble?" Robin asked in disbelief, "Wait, don't tell me, you were leaking government secrets!"

David chuckled softly. He remembered the night. The Czech. He remembered the firefight in the church in Belgrade to retrieve the USB. He remembered getting the payment when the door crashed open. He remembered the interrogation cell. He had been offered a chance to do some good in the world, and he had jumped at the chance without much other thought. Getting to work with the Black Widow and Hawkeye for the next 4 years after that was something he never regretted. Most other agents were unhappy with the fact that they were overshadowed by the star duo. David enjoyed it.

"That's a story for another time." David said as he entered the office, nodding a greeting to the other agents assembled.

Lynch cleared his throat and began, "Now, this one is an ambush. SHIELD intelligence has picked up AIM moving something they call the Monolith. SHIELD intelligence believes that they mean this." Lynch said, showing another photo of a black rectangular prism in a glass box.

"What does it do?" Helen asked, obviously interested. Harry was staring at it also intently.

"We're not sure." Lynch answered, "Our best guess is that it's a doorway to another universe, although most of that is the stuff of legend. Either way, this is dangerous stuff and if AIM has a version of it, then we have to stop them."

"What're the specifics?" Riley asked.

"For this one, since it is first mission out, I want Robin and Pershing here." Lynch said, pointing at a knoll on the side of the valley on a holographic display of the valley, "Sutherin, North, de Rosas—I want the three of you here, here, and here. This is an ambush but we have to make sure that this goes off without a hitch. Any ideas?"

"What sort of vehicles will they be driving?" Pershing asked, throwing a glance at David who smiled slightly. The two of them had developed, in a short time spent together, an uncanny ability to guess at each other's thoughts.

"2 jeeps, 3 armored personnel carriers." Lynch said, pointing at the satellite images, "It appears that the middle APC carries the monolith judging by the lack of heat signatures in the back."

"We could do simultaneous RPG attacks on these two." Riley said, pointing at the first and third APCs, "Then move in to clear all the other AIM guys."

"And if you miss?" Lynch asked, "The RPG is not a very accurate weapon."

"I could mine the ground with C4 and detonate the individual packs." David interjected quietly.

Lynch shook his head, "I don't want to risk damaging the monolith. Just blow up the rear one, David. Sutherin and de Rosas will take the first one. Those are the orders. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Suit up."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Heads up. Convoy inbound, ETA 50 seconds." Jack whispered into his comms unit.

David clicked his throat mike once to acknowledge and then cradled his rifle, the detonator in his right hand. He felt the wind blow across his back, giving him the chills. He had done this plenty of times before, either on his own, or with a team. But this time he felt nervous, for some reason. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he whispered into the mike as the convoy moved into view, "Three. Two. One. Boom."

On cue, the rear APC went up in flames as Sutherin and de Rosas opened up at the first APC. The armor piercing rounds easily tore through the armor plating, taking out the AIM guards inside. As they started to switch their attention to the second APC, it suddenly gunned its engines, smashing the front APC and the jeep in front of it quickly.

David had noticed it and cursed silently before turning and sprinting on the valley parallel to the road where the second APC was going. When he got to the cliff that overlooked the road, he jumped.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"…And in that process of doing so, you put the entire team and the mission at risk! You Rambo-esque attitude nearly failed the entire team! And on top of that, you didn't follow protocol at all. For a SHIELD agent for the last 10 years, I expected that you would know that you consult your commander before changing the plan on the move!" Lynch was shouting now.

David flinched and replied calmly, "With all due respect sir, I did stop AIM from leaving the scene with the monolith—"

"And that, Agent North, is the _only_ reason why you are not being suspended for your actions. The next time this happens, however, I will suspend you, regardless of whether or not the mission was a success. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." David replied flatly. So that's why they called Lynch the Hangman. He could hang you with protocol.

"Dismissed."

David nodded, turned, and left Lynch's office. He had done what had been instinctive to him—to stop the APC at all costs. But this wasn't STRIKE Team Delta and Lynch wasn't Coulson, he reminded himself. He decided that he was going to write a note to Lynch apologizing for his mistake and to never do that again.

As soon as David had left Lynch's office, Lynch had returned to filling out the files on his desk. The door barged open again to reveal Jocelyn.

"Haven't you learnt to knock before entering?" Lynch asked, irritated.

"Oh please." Jocelyn snorted, "What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"Chewing out North for what he did out there? He single-handedly completed the mission!"

"He endangered the team, Jocelyn!"

"You and I both know how hard it is to teach improvisation, especially on a split second decision. That's what separates the good from the best!"

"What're you trying to tell me?"

"Trust your team, Daniel. You have the files—Fury gave you some of the best in every field. Trust them to get the job done."

"Last time I trusted someone, I—"

"That was nearly 15 years ago, Daniel! And what happened in Havana wasn't your fault!"

Silence. Lynch stared down at his hands on his desk, knowing that his ex-partner was right. He finally looked up, "Fine."

Jocelyn nodded silently and left the room for the cockpit. She knew Lynch well enough to know that he would try.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Thwack. Thwack. Thud. Thwack. Thud. Thwack. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thwack. Thud. Thwack. Thwack.

David pulled back from the wooden practice dummy. He had been there for the last 2 hours trying to tire him and let him go to sleep. But no matter how much he pounded away, as soon as closed his eyes, he would see the pictures. The holding cell in Manchester, the wedding chapel in Melbourne, the village in Nigeria, the ancient tribe in Venezuela, the hotel room in Rome, the park in Singapore, the mall in Shanghai, the wet market in Hong Kong, the bridge in Paris… All of his memories seemed to merge together and haunt him as one collective horror.

"Nightmares?" A voice sounded behind him. David turned and looked up to find Jocelyn de Rosas behind him. How long had she been there?

"If I woke you up, I apologize." He said, wiping himself off with a towel.

"Oh, no." She smiled slightly, "I get nightmares too. Thought I heard someone trying to take it out on a practice dummy."

Darren smiled sheepishly, "Sorry. I just thought I could pound myself into exhaustion and then hopefully get some sleep."

She nodded, "I prefer yoga."

"Who knew that the Iron Rose would have nightmares?" He asked, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

She raised an eyebrow; "I could say the same for you, Krait." She paused and then asked, "How'd you know that name?"

"I did some background research on my teammates. Helps me in understanding them better. I'm assuming that you did the same."

"I did, although your reputation precedes you, David." Jocelyn replied. All David did was arch an eyebrow at this—as far as he knew, people talked about Clint and Natasha a lot more than they talked about him. "All of SHIELD has heard of you. The only man who was a better shot than Hawkeye himself? Come on. Is it true that you tried to charm a snake once?"

David nodded, looking slightly embarrassed, "Who told you that?"

"Natasha did." Jocelyn replied, "Said that you tried to do it with a clarinet?"

"Yeah. Not one of my brighter ideas." David winced at the memory, "Although I could say the same thing about reputation for you, Agent de Rosas."

"Its just Jocelyn." She replied, "And don't call me Iron Rose."

"Right. Sorry." David said as he held up his hands apologetically, "I'll keep that in mind."

"It just… reminds me about things I would rather I have forgotten about."

David nodded, "Yeah, I know what you mean." As he turned back towards the practice dummy, she stopped him, "You should stop. Pounding away won't change anything."

David sighed, "I know. I know I can never change anything in my past, because what's gone is gone. It's not about forgiveness; it's about redemption. And at this point, I'm not sure I can do that anymore."


	6. Chapter 6- This Girl is On Fire

"Nervous?" David asked. Robin's knee stopped bouncing as she gripped it and then looked up apologetically, "Yeah, a bit."

David nodded but said nothing. Under those circumstances, he would have been, too. After all, he had been as nervous as his first time in the X-Team under Stryker. The nervous edge was present in all of them, but he had faith in her abilities. It was her mind that he was concerned about—how she would be able to take it.

"Robin, if you don't feel comfortable doing this, I can do it."

"No." She replied determinedly, clenching her hands shut to prevent them from shaking, "I have to learn how to do this."

David nodded and shuddered inwardly. Nobody should ever have to learn how to take another person's life. It was inhumane. Cruel. There are two types of justice in the world. And if the first type is the one that is dished out in the courts, then the second type is the one that is dished out in the back-alleys. Often, criminals are able to escape the former, and it was part of SHIELD's job to make sure that they get the latter. Justice would be served, either way. Humans would be protected.

Vincent Karpf, a German arms dealer, was going to gain the latter type. He had been tried in German, Austrian, British, and American courts, all to no avail. His lawyers were very good, and he had never been convicted. If Herr Karpf had stuck with shipping guns and the like, then all would have been fine. SHIELD, like most other intelligence agencies, used arms dealers for information on despots and terrorist groups routinely.

But Herr Karpf, like many men, was greedy. He wasn't making enough selling conventional weapons, so he had sold the IRA a bioweapon called the Alpha-Omega. Lynch's team had managed to prevent an attack on Parliament last week, but they had to trail it to the source. Lynch decided that it was time for Robin to see what it meant to take a life.

Which was why David and Robin were in the hotel room next door to Karpf's. They were waiting for him to come back so that they could have a nice chat and then arrange for an accident. Secretly, Lynch had ordered Darren to make sure that Karpf would disappear.

He glanced over at her, and then suddenly, there was the sound of drunken laughter and singing next door.

"Pissed drunk." Robin muttered, more to herself than to anything.

"Poor bastard won't even see us coming." David said. As he stood up, he slid a silenced standard SHIELD-issue Glock 17 across the table, "Let's go say hello."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"…And he got it from the Russians, a man they call the 'Fourth Horseman'." David said. Even though the phone was in a secure line, he was still out on the balcony of the hotel room.

"Fourth Horseman?" Lynch asked quietly, "That's an interesting term."

"I think it's a Biblical reference." David said, "Although Riley would know better than me."

"I'll ask her." Lynch replied. After a brief pause, he asked, "How is she?"

"She puked twice.' David said, glancing over his shoulder back into the hotel room, "She's taking a shower now."

"Make sure you talk to her. She trusts you more than any of the shrinks that we may have at SHIELD." Lynch instructed, "What happened to Karpf, anyway?"

""We had to make it look like a burglary gone wrong, so understandably there was a lot of blood." David replied quietly, "And I think that's what pushed her."

"Again, talk to her."

"Will do. When do we get back?"

"Your extraction is tomorrow afternoon at 3pm, same location as your entry." Lynch answered, "I already sent you the relevant paperwork."

David groaned, "No rest for the weary, huh?"

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"How do you forget it?" Robin asked quietly.

"You really can't." David replied, staring at his hands clasped in front of him, "You try to forget, to move on, but you're stuck there. The blood—it becomes a part of you. The memories are seared into your mind and no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to wipe your memory clean."

"Then how do you deal with them?"

"I beat up training dummies. Jocelyn uses hot tea and yoga. Jack plays video games… You have to find what's comfortable for you."

"Does it get any easier?"

"Honestly? I don't know." David said, rubbing his eyes as a wave of exhaustion crashed on top of him, "I really don't know."


	7. Chapter 7- Out of This World

Lynch walked into the conference room to see Harry had David a fifty-dollar bill as the screen changed from a soccer stadium to the official SHIELD logo, "I take it that United beat City again?"

"Sir." David and Harry both snapped to attention as Lynch waved for both of them to sit down, "You haven't answered my question yet."

"Yes, sir." David replied, a grin on his face matching the rueful expression on Harry's face. "I am never betting against you again."

"I thought you gave up after he cleaned you out at the team Poker Night." Helen said as she walked in followed by Robin and Jocelyn.

"Yeah, well, I figured that a man's luck can't be that good." Harry replied, pouting a little.

"Just admit that United is the better team." David said, cheekily.

"I'd rather die!" Harry replied, feigning indignation.

"Children…" Jocelyn warned exasperatedly. Riley and Jack walked in together at the same moment. There was nothing overtly wrong with their appearance but David couldn't help but feel that something was off. Lynch noisily cleared his throat.

"This man is Professor James Slidell, a professor in archaeology and ancient Egypt. He contacted SHIELD about two new tombs that they unearthed recently. Apparently the nightly security guards have been disappearing." A video played, showing two men edge closer to the opening of the tomb and enter. 15 seconds later, there was a bright turquoise light and then it was all gone. "There are two tombs, so we will investigate them simultaneously. David, you'll take Robin and Pershing. Jocelyn and Sutherin are with me. Harry and Cohen, we'll be carrying instruments in and we need real-time analysis about what we're dealing with because frankly, we're going in blind. Suit up. We'll be landing soon."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"This is so cool! I've always wanted to see Egypt and mummies! It'll be like something out of an '80s horror film!" Robin gushed from the back row of the pick-up truck.

David couldn't help but suppress a smile, "This one's going to be pretty fun."

Jack glanced over quizzically, "Fun? We have no idea what we're walking into. It could be anything down there."

"Isn't that what makes it fun?" Robin asked, grinning, "I mean, its times like this that makes being a SHIELD agent great."

Jack snorted and slumped lower in his seat, "Yeah, its times like this that I question why I left the US army in the first place."

"Oh please." David interrupted, "The pay's better."

"And the food." Jack added, "Is that it?"

"Yeah." David said, turning off the engine. He chambered his pistol, slid it into his rear waistband and then grabbed an FNP90. Jack and Robin quickly checked their own weapons and then got out after David. The campsite had been abandoned very recently—a day or two ago—judging by the ashes from what were presumably campfires.

Pausing before the entrance, David took a flare from his belt, lit it, and tossed it into the darkness.

"Looks about 50 feet down." Jack said from behind him. David nodded, "Okay, comms check. Control, how are things looking?"

"Systems are a go." Helen said back at the plane, "Good luck."

"You make your own luck." Robin said in reply as she followed the other two down the stairs and into the dark abyss. She couldn't see David's grin at her using his words.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

They entered the main chamber to find all the evidence of an excavation that had been paused. Tools were everywhere. Lights were strung up and working. There was no sign of anything that had gone wrong.

David breathed out a sigh of relief as Helen reported that they hadn't detected anything strange. "This place still gives me the creeps." Jack muttered, glancing around nervously.

"We still have to figure out what's wrong with this." David said, looking around the room, trying to see anything that could be counted as being out of the ordinary when the lights flickered once.

"Who's there?" Robin shouted, panicked. She could have sworn that she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

"Uh… guys? Temperatures just dropped by 9.78 degrees." Helen said. A quick glance over at Harry confirmed that the other three had just experienced similar phenomenon in their tomb.

"Right." David muttered, "See anything else?"

"A detector is… wait a second… it has to be malfunctioning. It's picking up a life source in front of Robin." Helen said, fighting to keep herself from freaking out.

"The only thing in front of me is the coffin." Robin said. The words were no sooner out of her mouth then a low, eerie moan filled the chamber. The lights dimmed again before restoring to full brightness. Robin backed up hurriedly to where David and Jack were. Both men were panicking on the inside. What the hell was going on?

And then the lid of the coffin flew off to reveal a tall, blue, humanoid looking thing. An alien? It sat up, stared around and then got out and stood there, watching the three SHIELD agents. The thing just watched them, its expression neutral. And then David drew and fired.

He had made similar shots before. All you needed was a kill shot, somewhere in the forehead, preferably right between the eyes. The bullet flew through the air at thousands of feet a second and then bounced right off. David's eyes widened marginally at that. All three agents opened fire and emptied their clips. Not a single bullet managed to even dent it. The thing, whatever it was, suddenly attacked.

With several long, graceful strides, it closed the distance between the two sides very quickly. Jack drew a tactical combat knife and engaged it, only to be sent smashing into a wall of the chamber. It turned and took a solid a punch to the jaw. For once, it staggered backwards a bit, and inside of him, despite the circumstances, David cheered.

True, the thing had superhuman strength. True it was about an entire foot taller than him. But for the first time, they had managed to hurt that thing, even if it was only for a second or two. He was about to go hand-to-hand with an Egyptian alien. Fun. All in a day's work.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"David? David! Wake up!" The sounds seemed so far away, as if they were coming at him through a thick veil, as if he had his earphones in or something. But wait, he didn't have his earphones in—they had stayed behind in his locker on the jet. What was going on?

Abruptly, his eyes shot open to find a very worried Robin and Jack bent over him. As soon as they realized he had woken up, Jack called in, "Yeah, we're good. He was just knocked out. We'll be on our way soon."

Robin was still knelt over him, concern brimming in her eyes. She cracked a smile, "You know, I thought I was going to need a new SO for a bit."

"Sorry to disappoint." He croaked, "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"Robin was about to." Jack said, kneeling down on the other side of Darren, ignoring the pointed glare from her.

"At least she controlled herself." David replied, sitting up, "Unlike you, Mr. I-Have-A-Hickey-On-My-Neck."

"Riley didn't give me one on my—" Jack's defense was broken off by an arched eyebrow on David's face with a bemused look. He groaned, "You bluffed me?"

"For a guy whose name is Blackjack Pershing, you are ridiculously easy to bluff." David replied, standing up, "What the hell happened? I remember jumping onto the thing's back and then trying to choke it before it sent me into the wall."

"Well, by that point, only Robin was good so she stabbed it with her knife." Jack replied as he got up as well and began to dust himself off.

"The vibranium cut through the thing easily and then I stabbed it through its eyes. I'm pretty sure I killed it." Robin took up the story as the three of them watched a SHIELD Team load the corpse into a cryogenic freezer and carry it onto a waiting quinjet for transport, "I wonder where they'll take it."

"Probably the Fridge." Jack answered, "And then from there, probably Slingshot from there back into space."


End file.
